Blur: Modern Life Is Rubbish POLL

gotta be "Chemical World," followed by "For Tomorrow."

...or "Blue Jeans."

Heh, if you'd added bonus tracks, "Young and Lovely" would have won!

oh you have. Just not the ones I'v got.

'Villa Rosie' for sentimental reasons. 'When the Cows Come Home' always seems to be passing though my mind, though.

Star shaped! If I was in a little more melancholy mood it'd be Miss America, probably the most-played track of my teenage years..

When this album first came out I couldn't get interested in it at all. I had the first album, but I think I thought Blur would be just another flash-in-the-pan and I wasn't sure I really wanted to continue following them. Later on after Parklife had drawn me back to them I went back to this album and realized how many catchy songs were on it, but I still don't think I ever really bonded with it the way I did the other albums. I'll have to dig it out because I have no idea how to vote in this poll.

I 'didn't like' the number of in-jokes about Dave Balfe's connection to Julian Cope (Pressure on Julian (obv), Colin Zeal (nick from "Sleeping Gas")

The rest be great.

Resigned, in a heartbeat.

Goddammit, this is way too hard. For me this album is more about the overall mood than any particular song. I'll probably go with "For Tomorrow."

Sunday Sunday gives me a ridiculous and sometimes embarrassing energy spurt. That whirlwindy bit toward the end. Nice portrait, too.

"Sunday Sunday". "For Tomorrow" and "Colin Zeal" also great.

"Intermission" - it's fun!

thing you all know:

If this is the US version of the album, "Chemical World" is a different version.

"Popscene" has an unfair advantage here, and Damon really ought to let bygones be bygones - it was '92, a different world - and put it back in its rightful place on the album proper.

But, for everything it meant to me then, and what it means to me now, my vote goes to "For Tomorrow."

Oily Goddam Water

Fave song = Popscene, fave song actually on album = For Tomorrow. Now to decide how pedantic I want to be.

"For Tomorrow" and "Chemical World" are main contenders but my heart says "Oily Water" if only for its hypnotising guitar-motif.

This poll shoul have just had the options:

Rubbish
Not rubbish

turn it up turn it up turn it in for sounding like prime teenage fanclub

Yup, no-one voting for "Turn it on" here.

Today, 'Resigned'. Tomorrow, probably 'Coping' or 'Oily Water' or 'Blue Jeans' or something else. This is the one Blur album I've never ever ever got bored of, and it's also probably the one I've heard the most.

Wow I'd embarrassingly never noticed the 'Colin Zeal'/'Sleeping Gas' thing at all before! Silly silly me - I first heard the songs at around the same time as well.

Another for 'Chemical World'.

I voeted "Oily Water"

"Yup, no-one voting for "Turn it on" here.

-- Mark G, Tuesday, 29 July 2008 13:07 (2 hours ago)"

Ouch!

Yeah I have to express some dismay there too. Kazoo kazoo, you are mine...

Tricky. Some of it's great, some of it doesn't seem to have aged so well, some of it was shite even at the time. 'Starshaped' and 'Chemical World' go together in my head as a great perky duo. I love the way both songs have those pairs of low & high lines (I've been making plans - for the future / Her landlord says she'll be out in a week - what a shame she was just getting comfy etc.). I don't think I've ever heard the American version of Chemical World, but the English one is pretty damn fine.

'Resigned' is a fantastic album closer (although, as with many of these polls, it doesn't actually close this list of tracks), at once uplifting but also sad. It's unusual for an emotional Blur song in that it's not the vocals that carry the feeling, it's just the guitar.

I'm torn between Chemical World and 'Oily Water', which I'm glad to see has got a couple of mentions on this thread.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

i bought the UK version of this album, the US version came out like nine months later. this was the album that sold Blur to me, fantastic, and you just could tell they might be around for awhile.

i wonder what my vote would be if i listened to this today. "Chemical World" wins but i have always preferred the CD single version of the song.

Oily Water is great, and on first listen was my runaway favourite (sonically it's the most adventurous thing on the album, one might argue). Still up there.

i voted for Chemical World if only because it's the most anthemic, for me, on an album that's chock full of anthems. It was a bit difficult, but just looking at the tracklist brings back all those fantastic melodies and reinforces how much i completely love this album.

i was a passing fan of 'there's no other way' as a madchester also-ran, but watching Blur go from that to MLIR was something fantastic to see and keep up with (especially in the UK music rags).

One of those rare records where every track is fantastic.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I would've voted for Miss America.

Michael!

That's a great song, probably my favourite after Resigned, Oily Waters and Blue Jeans.

'Coping' is underrated.

me too i love MISS AMERICA.

great showing for STAR SHAPED!

Good results, though surprised "Miss America" got no votes at all.

Me too. Maybe it's everyone's third favourite song.

I love "Advert"! It's not my favorite song on the album by any means, but I'm happy every time it comes on, and it's placement is some kinda PERFECT!

Actually, "Advert" got me more into Blur.

I liked the singles before that, and bought "For Tomorrow", but when they did OldGreyWTest (or something), and led off with Advert, I thought "hmm, they have something, actually"!

Never looked back. Well, I did get the first album in a jumble sale eventually.

quondam ilxor acrobat reckons 'turn it up' is their best song.

now that's a challop.

I don't know, that actually is a challenging opinion. I don't think anyone has ever said that ever.

food processors are great!

There's so much of what was great about Blur on this album, and only a little of what became irritating. Blue Jeans my favourite moment, the harmonies really striking.
Oily Water is a dreary old thing. Saw them play it at the Old Trout in Windsor and thought it sounded like a washing machine.

food processors are great!

― Challops Never End (Pillbox), Wednesday, May 11, 2011 12:05 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark

Ah, I missed this poll. Would have voted for 'Star Shaped'... some interesting chord progressions on this album!

shame no one voted for Peach - it's not a proper album track, so in theory it doesn't really belong here. still, it's damn near the top of my list of favorite Blur b-sides (which is saying A LOT).

There's so much of what was great about Blur on this album, and only a little of what became irritating.

Well said. It's my favorite Blur album for that reason.

they were outta their minds not putting out Star Shaped as a single.

and THIS.. this blows my mind.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK_VFoUNOAg

they were a fucking fantastic band around this time; it's astonishing they were a whisker away from being dropped by the label

Young and Lovely should have been a single! And it's only a b-side. So many good songs from that era.

Yeah, that Andy Partridge version of 'Seven Days' is absolutely wonderful. It's strange, but very pleasant, to hear the Blur-meets-Nonsuch era XTC meld on those Partridge produced tracks. It would have been very interesting to see what a full-length Partridge-produced Modern Life Is Rubbish would have sounded like, but it's just as well they went with Stephen Street for the album proper... this album and the follow-up were both crucial albums for them, and who knows what would have happened if they'd decided to keep on working with Partridge?

'Young And Lovely' is okay - I know that the band are big fans of it, and I know it's a bit of a fan favourite, but I've never really thought it was anything spectacular. It's decent though, and I have more than a soft spot for 'All Your Life' from the 'Beetlebum' single... overall though, I never really considered Blur to be a great B-sides band... certainly not in the sense that Suede or Oasis were, anyway. There's some surprisingly decent B-side cuts, but most of it (to me) is the very definition of "pissing about".

this has always been my favourite blur album. there seems to be something very british about it, i haven't listeed to it for 15 years or something like that. i remember tht it had a nice flow and that there were no clunkers. when "boys and girls" came out a little later they were more o less dead as a band for me. what a shitty song, i still cannot believe how successful it was. still better than anything oasis has ever released but for blur it was the beginning of the end.

got a real hankering to hear "blue jeans" right now.

Just listened through this for the first time in ages. Such a great album. 30 next year, which is hard to accept.

Would have voted Blue Jeans, btw